Her Best Chance
by thebluecray0n
Summary: The gang arrives back in the EF. Hook wants to go find Emma, but it takes some convincing.


_Summary: The gang arrives back in the EF. Hook wants to go find Emma, but it takes some convincing._

* * *

"We're back," Snow whispered, and Hook looked around the Enchanted Forest blindly.

He didn't feel like he was _home._ He didn't feel like he was back anywhere. He thought he could still see Emma, still see the way she looked at him when she said, "_Good,"_ could still feel the way his heart pounded when she had. He remembered the way she tasted, deep in the jungles of Neverland, their secret dalliance. The way she had pulled him, grabbed him, shocked him. Awakened him.

Then he saw her yellow vessel, taking her away, saving her. Killing him. The crack, the smoke, the tight pull and then he was an entire world away from her. And she didn't remember.

But he did. And he would never forget.

"Bloody stubborn prince," Hook muttered, ducking down just as another monkey lunged for him.

He reached for the sword Robin threw him, and just had enough time to swing. What followed was an eerie screech and then the monkey fell to the floor with a thud. Hook took a deep breath, stepping back, digging his foot into the ground.

"Nice work, mate!" Robin appeared next to him, clapping his shoulder. He looked at the monkey and cringed, "Must get this back to the queen."

Hook resisted the urge to say something about Robin just wanting to get another look at Regina. Instead he began to secure the monkey, still fuming about Charming's refusal to seek Emma's help.

"Do you really think the savior would be of any help?" Robin asked him, taking over the task of tying the monkey. Hook hadn't expected to be making any friends upon their arrival in the Enchanted Forest, but it hadn't taken much time before that idea had been tossed out the window.

"You don't know Emma," he said, his voice softening with the mention of her name. When he had brought the idea to the Charmings, they had fiercely refuted him. She was _happy,_ they had argued. She was in another realm. Plus, she didn't _remember them_. Hook had scoffed at that. Emma not remembering them was the least of their problems.

"I'll go," he had said, "and I'll make her remember. And I'll bring her back. You'd rather she be happier with false memories when she could be back with her family?"

Snow's lower lip had trembled and Charming had taken her in his arms and looked at Hook like his wife's distress was all his fault. Hook rolled his eyes, his throat burning with acid. Emma would be happier with them. With her parents. With him, he dared to believe.

_There's not a day will go by I won't think of you._

_Good._

How could they leave her? Abandon her?

She didn't remember them. She was supposed to be happy.

But she needed them.

And he needed her.

Robin took a swig from his canteen and then offered it to Hook. He declined, shaking his head with more vigor than necessary. She was everywhere. Her voice was in the wind and her eyes were there in the dark. Her smile was just behind his eyelids and at night he could be anywhere, remember anything, imagine anything.

It wasn't a long trek back to the castle. Regina had been able to patch it up with some magic and it was where anything related to the green lady was discussed. Hook wasn't sure if they were calling her Elphaba or the Wicked Witch, but he knew they were scared. And they were in danger and besides his weird affection for the prince, he also looked at them fondly because they were a part of Emma.

Robin was practically pissing himself excitement to see Regina. Hook looked away as the queen stalked down the hall, glaring at the monkey in distaste. "Get that thing out of my castle."

Hook stepped away, ready to try his speech on the Charmings again.

It had been the millionth time he heard Snow's voice break when she cried, "We gave her her best chance!"

He couldn't hear it one more time. "Bloody hell, _we are her best chance!"_

Finally, they stopped fighting him. Snow was looking at him like she had that day in the Echo Caves. Hook shook his head, pushing _that_ memory away, and focused on Emma and finding her.

_Good._

It had been his salvation. He heard her say it over and over again. He saw her lips form the word, her eyes wet with tears and glistening and looking at _him._ He had never asked Neal what she said to him, if she had promised him anything. He didn't want to know.

_Good._

Snow and Charming looked at each other.

Hook shuffled anxiously. Every day he spent in that damn forest was closing in on him.

And then he felt the words coming on their own, he couldn't stop them. He didn't even know where they were coming from, but he was speaking and his heart had dropped into his stomach, since he felt a tightness there and he belatedly wondered if it was possible to pass out from speaking too fast. "You needed her to find you. Twenty eight years ago you needed her to come find you. But now she needs us to come find her. She can't be alone again— she and the boy deserve more than that. You heard her— she wasn't done. She didn't want to leave. And look at the state of this place. Emma is the savior, she saved all of us. She saved me."

It was Charming who finally nodded and said, "Captain, I think you have a journey to make."

"Take care, mate," Robin said seriously.

"Come back soon," Roland squeaked, making Hook grin.

He squatted down to eye level with the little boy and asked, "What should I bring you back?"

"Like a present?"

"Aye,"

"Mate," Robin started nervously, but it was too late. Roland was squirming like a starving puppy.

"Hook," Charming said, coming over. "When you find her…"

Every part of him was alive. He could feel her. Feel her body against his. Feel her spirit. It felt like she was there. It always felt like she was there. But when Hook looked around she never was. But not for long. He was going to find her.

"True Love's kiss," Snow cut in, making Hook's eyes widen. "Don't lose hope."

Charming looked faintly sick, then he steeled himself and clapped his hand on the pirate's cheek. "Bring her home."

There was a loud screech and the group gathered looked up in fear. There was a new swarm of monkeys coming for them. The witch had cackled something about coming for them all, and it looked like she was planning something big.

"Go," Snow pressed. Hook didn't waste anytime, he jumped onto the horse, sparing a look behind him as the others braced themselves for a fight.

He didn't know what the place would look like when he returned with Emma and the boy. He hoped Charming and Snow would manage to keep themselves safe and so would the others.

But as he rode on, his heart thundered dangerously. Hopefully.


End file.
